Yes it’s a bread, but we call it a bake. Just as the fry bake recipe I shared with you a while back, which isn’t really baked… we try our best to confuse the heck out of people with our food names. Walking into the house after school or on those days when in the rainy season it was customary to spend our evening playing football (soccer) in the muddy savanna down the road (I’m still a ball-hoe), and you would be hit with that lovely aroma of action taking place in the oven… immediate hunger would set in (even if you just raided someone’s mango tree).

If it was after football, you had to make sure and bathe before setting foot in the house and don’t ever let you mom see dry nashy skin.. so you had to grease down with baby oil or lotion… it’s amazing how fast we would go from pig to Sunday morning church clean. That fresh baked bread smell had a way of getting the best out of us. When it was coconut bake, it also meant timing it so as soon as it came out of the oven, you could have a piece with butter and/or cheese. I also recall our mom cooking a fry-dry curry shrimp to make sandwiches with the coconut bake. Good times!

Wanted to mention that though I can get dried coconut here if I look hard enough, I just didn’t feel like searching then grating etc, so I used dessicated coconut I found pre-packaged (Desiccated coconut is coconut meat which has been shredded or flaked and then dried to remove as much moisture as possible) at the grocery store. I would recommend (though I didn’t this time) soaking it in the coconut milk to add back some life to it.

This recipe is a bit different than my mom’s or grandmother .. who BTW used a coal pot to make her’s, but you’ll find great pleasure as you rip through a steaming hot piece of this coconut bake.

If you’re using freshly grated coconut , start by prepping that or as in my case I started with the dough. This would be the first time using our new food processor for making dough, but feel free to use your hands if you not as lazy as I am. In the food processor (or bowl) place the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and the butter or shortening and work till you get a sort of crumbs texture. I gave the food processor a few pulses and it was ready for the next step.

I then added the grated coconut and gave it another pulse, then I started to add the coconut milk and make the actual dough. You may notice that you’ll need some additional liquid, if that is the case add some water. You’re looking for a smooth and firm dough. Since I used the food processor (about 3-5 minutes), I then removed it onto a floured surface and worked the dough until it was firm and smooth as I wanted.

The next step is to cut it evenly into two pieces and and work it into the shape of the ‘bake’. You’ll need to have a flour dusted surface and a rolling pin ready. I believe I got mine about 1 inch thick and about 10-12 inches in diameter. I then used a fork to prick the surface a bit (always saw my mom do that), placed it onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. Which I covered with plastic wrap and allowed to rest for about 2 0 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 400F, then add the bakes (remove plastic wrap) on the cookie sheet and on the middle shelf for about 25-30 minutes or until they’re golden brown. You can always stick a toothpick in the center and if it comes our dry, it means the inside is fully cooked.

I forgot to mention that you should warm the coconut milk a bit before adding to the flour to make the dough. Day two would see us have slices of this with guava jam and tea for breakfast, before heading off to school… you felt as if you could take on the world when your belly was jam-packed with this lovey coconut bake.

Oye! before you go… Remember you can watch the cooking videos on the recipe channel and we’d love to interact with you on our Facebook fan page. There’s a few thousand of us already causing commesse on there… so do check it out.

My husband is from the VI — I am thinking this is what they call dumb bread over there. I hope so because searching “dumb bread” on Google did not pull up many recipes! I found out about bakes while searching for a VI johnny cake recipe, and I am so glad! I would rather cook something in the oven than deal with hot grease. I am going to try this. If it tastes like the dumb bread that he grew up with, I think you will earn me some good wife points! The johnny cake will wait until I need some more.:)

Hello from London…….Me and my family moved to Trinidad ..We are from the island of Madeira,,,,so we became quite accustomed to the Trinidad cuisine quite quickly…..One of our regular meals we always had”bake ” and of course coconut bake” but it was never cooked in the oven,but on a iron stone that looks a bit like a griddle,,,it has turned over a number of times until it is cooked through….its a wonderful way to cook this type of bread………………p.s….why is it in all the recipes you people never ever mention the iron griddle for cooking this tasty bread……..Please explain yourself…..thanks Querino de Freitas…

Hi Dee
Traditionally coconut bake was baked in a big iron on outside stone fire. With fire below the pot and fireor coals on top a sheet place over the pot..know as fire on top and below. As time get modern and people shift away from the outdoor fire cooking some use the baking stone mainly the east Indian since it is already available to them in roti making, others started baking it in the oven. Baking in oven is the modern day way. The coal pot was also use with fire on top and below. I grew up with great grand parent so I experienced it first hand.

Hi Chris. Shalom and a very happy Easter to you. This Coconut Bake recipe is great, but can you post one where I can use whole wheat flour? I have tried adding whole wheat flour to this recipe and I realize I need your input. Blessings again to you and your family.